Weekly 5: Industry urges Florida to address water issues

The BI Weekly 5 is a collection of tips, news and data affecting the boating industry this week. Be sure to look for the BI Weekly 5 every week on BoatingIndustry.com.

1. Industry urges Florida to address water issues

Leaders from the boating and tourism industries are seeking urgent action to address water quality in the state of Florida, the Tampa Bay Times reported.

The group met with Gov. Rick Scott and legislators last week to make their case. They explained how their industries suffered from the impact of toxic algae blooms, while detailing how Florida is losing business to other states.

“If Florida is known as a destination of subpar water quality or bad water, it would absolutely crush our local economy,” said John Lai, representing the Lee County Development Association and the Sanibel/Captiva Chamber of Commerce. He said that one in five jobs in his region relies heavily on tourism but, in the last 30 years, he has watched “the complete degradation of Florida estuaries and water quality.”

Scott Deal, president and CEO of Maverick Boat Group and Perk Perkins, CEO of Vermont-based Orvis Company, which specializes in products for the fly-fishing industry, also addressed the group.

2. Funding directed toward Gulf red snapper census of the  population

The American Sportfishing Association is praising Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., for his efforts to fund a $9.5 million grant program through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration toward innovative Gulf of Mexico reef fish survey assessments and technologies.

“The sportfishing industry applauds Senator Shelby for creating this program and listening to the thousands of anglers and recreational fishing-dependent businesses who see historic numbers of red snapper resources at the same time the government is cutting back on fishing days,” said Scott Gudes, ASA’s vice president of Government Affairs. “NOAA will be funding external proposals by fishermen, educational institutions and others outside the National Marine Fisheries Service to survey red snapper and other reef fish in areas like oil rigs and reefs where the current government surveys just aren’t looking.”

3. Court settles deadline for boat manufacturer residual risk review

The EPA will have three years to complete a Residual Risk review of hazardous emissions, which includes boat manufacturers, NMMA reported.

The March 2020 deadline, established last week by a federal district court judge, applies to air pollution regulations covering 20 different industries, including boat manufacturing. The Obama administration failed to complete its reviews of those standards within the eight-year period established under the Clean Air Act, which prompted a lawsuit brought by California Communities Against Toxics and other environmental advocacy organizations.

4. You need 86 candidates to hire that one right person, study says

According to research by recruiting software service Lever, a typical small business employing fewer than 200 people needs to go through an average of 86 applications to find that one right person for the job, the Washington Post’s On Small Business reports.

The study looked at data from about 1.5 million candidate considerations and 15,000 hires at 600 of Lever’s customers throughout most of 2016. Larger companies need to see an average of 100 candidates before hiring someone.

5. Using employee feedback to build better marketing campaigns

What your employees say about your company—in person and on social media—holds weight. That’s why brands are going big on employee advocacy programs, writes MarketingProfs.

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